CDHD to Offer H1N1 Appointments

The Central District Health Department (CDHD) will begin offering free H1N1 flu vaccine by appointment only beginning Monday December 28th at the health department office, 707 N Armstrong Place, Boise. Appointments can be made starting immediately by calling the CDHD Flu Hotline at 321-2222 during regular business hours. The vaccine is now available to all persons six months of age and above.

“The Point of Dispensing (POD) clinics and school-based programs have been a tremendous success,” says Rob Howarth, Incident Commander for the H1N1 vaccination effort. “We’ve managed to provide more than 40,000 doses of vaccine to the community. With the current level of public interest we think people will be better served being able to schedule the time they come in for their vaccinations.”

CDHD has assigned a team of nurses to the project that will only do H1N1 vaccinations. Those interested in being vaccinated can save themselves time by downloading the Public H1N1 Consent Form from the CDHD website, and filling it out before their scheduled appointment.

CDHD will resume the school-based vaccination program the week of January 4th in Boise & Meridian. A schedule of the schools that will be visited has been posted to the health district website.

Thousands of doses of vaccine have been distributed to physician offices and area pharmacies. While all vaccine administered by the health department is free, private providers can charge an administration fee of up to $19.07, which is equal to the regional Medicaid reimbursement rate. Many insurance companies and Medicaid cover the administration fee.

For additional information on the flu visit the Central District Health Department website www.cdhd.idaho.gov. or call the CDHD Flu Hotline 321-2222.